Decision details

Recommendation is for Cabinet to note the progress made delivering the improvements across children’s services , the results / feedback from recent Ofsted Monitoring Visits and inspections from the Children’s Commissioner (and his resulting recommendations to the Department for Education), the forward plan for improvement priorities for 2020 and the expected inspections this year.

RESOLVED:

1. That the revised priorities and directorate plan for the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture directorate be agreed.

2. That the overall findings and feedback from the recent quality assurance activity included in this report and the impact on frontline children’s services resulting from delivery of the Children’s Improvement Plan be noted.

3.    That a further report to come to the September 2020 meeting was agreed – to include an update on the children’s improvement programme and the next steps for the re-inspection of Surrey’s children’s services by Ofsted.

Reason for decision:

It is not yet known when the next Ofsted Monitoring Visit or full re-inspection will take place following cancellation of the 7 & 8 April 2020 visit. The ‘Annual Conversation’ with Ofsted is scheduled for 11 June 2020 when we expect to have further clarity on how the inspection programme will proceed.

The revised directorate plan has been updated to reflect the evolving situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. While significant effort and resources are working to manage and mitigate the impact of the pandemic, we are committed to delivering the vital improvement priorities also included in the directorate plan. 

As outlined in the main section of the report, the improvement programme is progressing well with Surrey’s children’s services successfully delivering the actions from the improvement plan to address Ofsted recommendations from the 2018 full inspection. There are comprehensive scrutiny arrangements already in place for 2020 with involvement from Surrey County Council (SCC) officers, Members, partner agencies, the Department for Education (DfE) and other key stakeholders.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & CultureSelect Committee]